Nissan is planning to temporarily halt production at its plant in Kyushu, Japan, due to supply-chain impacts in China stemming from the coronavirus health crisis, according to a report in the Nikkei newspaper.
Nissan will halt two production lines at the Kyushu plant from February 14, the Nikkei said.
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Nissan would be the first automaker to be forced to halt production in Japan and is finding it increasingly difficult to procure parts from China, the Nikkei reported. The report also said the stoppage could impact production of around 3,000 vehicles.
Although the epicentre of the outbreak is Wuhan and Hubei province in China, where most of the subsequent disruption to economic activity is taking place, global manufacturing supply-chains are starting to show signs of being impacted by shortages of China-produced components. This reflects both the long-run globalisation of automotive parts supply-chains and the predominance of 'just-in-time' lean manufacturing processes that keep inventory low.
Hyundai Motor Group has suspended production on a number of assembly lines in South Korea due to component shortages from some of its Chinese suppliers and FCA has said that it could have to halt production at a European plant within weeks due to supply shortages of China-sourced parts.
